Abstract
We apply a new quantitative method for investigating how children's exploration changes across age in order to gain insight into how exploration unfolds over the course of a human life from a life-history perspective. In this study, different facets of exploratory play were quantified using a novel touchscreen environment across a large sample and wide age range of children in the USA (n = 105, ages = 1 year and 10 months to 12 years and 2 months). In contrast with previous theories that have suggested humans transition from more exploratory to less throughout maturation, we see children transition from less broadly exploratory as toddlers to more efficient and broad as adolescents. Our data cast doubt on the picture of human life history as involving a linear transition from more curious in early childhood to less curious with age. Instead, exploration appears to become more elaborate throughout human childhood.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Life history and learning: how childhood, caregiving and old age shape cognition and culture in humans and other animals’.
Highlights
Exploration is a behaviour that agents employ to reduce uncertainty about their environments (e.g. [1,2,3,4,5])
The number of novel items discovered per touch was calculated as a way to measure the efficiency of each participant’s exploration of the touchscreen environment
This study showed a stable trend towards elaboration of exploration during free play for young children through early adolescence
Summary
Exploration is a behaviour that agents employ to reduce uncertainty about their environments (e.g. [1,2,3,4,5]). Exploration is a behaviour that agents employ to reduce uncertainty about their environments The act of exploration trades new information in exchange for certain costs. There is the opportunity cost owing to the limited nature of space and time. A monkey who decides to search previously unexplored foliage for fruit is necessarily missing out on the opportunity to exploit known food sources (i.e. the ‘explore/exploit dilemma’). Given that dangers exist in the world, there is a risk associated with novelty. Exploring new terrain or trying new things comes with new, unknown risks
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